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sikkhāpadesu

sikkhāpada

nt loc pl of sikkhāpada (noun)

1. precept; instruction; training rule

Built from

• sikkhā — root · training, learning
  From √śikṣ (Sanskrit śikṣati). The notion of 'instruction' and 'discipline' as something one steps into progressively.
• pada — root · foot, step, place
  From √pad (Sanskrit padá 'foot'). Cognate with English foot, Latin pes, Greek πούς. Expresses the foundation or platform on which one stands.
• -su — ending · locative plural
  Marks the locative plural, answering 'in/among which precepts?' in the dative-ethical sense of the canonical precept lists.

Analysis. sikkhā (training, learning) + pada (foot, step, place); literally 'training steps' or 'foothold in training'—the rules that form the foundation of monastic discipline.

Etymology. sikkhā from √śikṣ (Sanskrit śikṣati 'teaches, learns'), related to English school, Greek σχολή 'leisure for learning'. pada from √pad (Sanskrit padá 'foot'), cognate with English foot, Latin pes, Greek πούς. The compound expresses the spatial imagery of stepping into discipline: each precept is a foothold in the trainee's ascent.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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